This is an open call for applications for PhD students and postdocs to join my research group Graphics, Vision & Video at the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Informatics in Saarbruecken, Germany.

The GVV group looks at challenging open research problems at the intersection of computer graphics and computer vision.
We have pioneered methods in off-line and real-time marker-less motion and performance capture of humans, faces, hands and
deformable objects, and have developed entirely new ways for efficient and high-quality inverse rendering. Very recent examples
are the Face2Face face reenactment approach from CVPR 2016 that also won the 'Best of Show Award' at Emerging Technologies of SIGGRAPH 2016, the VNect real-time monocular full-body motion capture approach (SIGGRAPH 2017), and the first approach for real-time intrinsic video decomposition (SIGGRAPH 2016). We generally look into pushing the boundaries of 3D / 4D scene reconstruction
in general scenes, capturing for CG content creation, 3D video and telepresence, image-based rendering, and computational photography
and videography. We develop new approaches for machine learning in vision and graphics, in particular new ways for combining
model-based and learning-based methods. With our research, we thus advance the algorithmic foundations behind augmented and
virtual reality, and the perception capabilities of autonomous systems and vehicles.

Some of our research results also form the basis for our award-winning startup company
the Captury that commercializes the most advanced real-time marker-less motion
capture technology that is available on the market.

Successful applicants will join a vibrant and dynamic research environment in which we constantly push the boundary of what is possible
today in visual computing. The MPI for Informatics has a wide range of state-of-the-art computing and research equipment, including
several large scale 3D / 4D scanners and a full multi-view motion and performance capture studio featuring several multi-camera and
multi-sensor systems. In our team, you will rethink the basic algorithmic concepts in the aforementioned areas to push the boundaries
of today’s technology. Postdocs will also have the chance to co-supervise graduate students.

About Christian Theobalt and the GVV group

Christian Theobalt is a Professor of Computer Science and the head of
the research group "Graphics, Vision, and Video" at the
Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Informatics, Saarbruecken,
Germany. Most of his research deals with algorithmic problems that lie on the
boundary between the fields of Computer Vision and Computer Graphics, such as static and dynamic
3D scene reconstruction, marker-less motion and performance capture, computer animation,
virtual and augmented reality, appearance and reflectance modeling, machine
learning for graphics and vision, new sensors for 3D acquisition,
advanced video processing, as well as image- and physically-based
rendering. For his work, he received several awards, including the
Otto Hahn Medal of the Max-Planck Society in 2007, the EUROGRAPHICS
Young Researcher Award in 2009, and the German Pattern Recognition
Award 2012. In 2015 he was elected one of the top 40 innovation
leaders under the age of 40 in Germany by the magazine
Capital. Further, in 2013 he was awarded an ERC Starting Grant by the
European Union. He is a Principal Investigator and a member of
the Steering Committee of the Intel Visual Computing Institute in
Saarbruecken. He is also a co-founder of a spin-off company from his
group - www.thecaptury.com - that sells the most advanced marker-less
motion and performance capture solution commercially available today.
The group Graphics, Vision & Video has close collaborations with international academic and industry
partners and lives a very collaborative team-oriented working style within the group itself.
Check out our team:
http://gvv.mpi-inf.mpg.de/GVV_Team.html .

About the environment

The Max-Planck Institute for Informatics (MPI-INF) is one of the world's leading research institutes
in Computer Science in general, and Visual Computing in particular.
It is located on the campus of Saarland University in Saarbruecken,
Germany. MPI-INF is embedded in a unique cluster of computer science
research. Around 400 PhD students in CS do research in the different
CS institutes on campus under the roof of a joint CS graduate school.
In immediate neighborhood on campus, there are several other computer
science research institutes of world renown with which close
collaborations exist: the German Research Center for Artificial
Intelligence (DFKI), the Max-Planck-Institute for Software Systems,
the Institute for Bioinformatics, the Excellence Cluster Multimodal
Computing and Interaction, the Intel Visual Computing Insitute (IVCI),
the new federal research center on IT
Security, Privacy and Accountability (CISPA), and the Computer Science
Department of Saarland University. The Leibniz Center for Informatics
in Schloss Dagstuhl is also located nearby. (www.informatik-saarland.de)

Application Instructions:

Applicants for PhD positions should have a Bachelor, preferably Master degree, in computer science or a closely related field.
Postdoc applicants should have a PhD degree in computer science or a closely related field.

Course work and research experience in one or more of the following areas is desirable:
multi-view / 3D scene reconstruction methods, 4D reconstruction, computer graphics, computer animation, machine learning for visual
computing, marker-less performance capture, marker-less motion capture, tracking algorithms, 3D Video. Applicants should have an
excellent academic track record; publications in one of the above areas are a plus. A candidate should be fluent in written and spoken
English and be willing to travel. Full funding and benefits are provided.

If you are interested in this PhD position, please send a complete
application package, including a CV, a research statement, transcripts
and certificates, and the contacts of two references by